At my wits end over my gas consumption

katsu

Great start Fairy.

Have you checked the thermostat? On the front of your tank, probably, and needs to be 60C, not higher.

My hot water generally stays hot in the day as the tank is lagged with a jacket. I'd guess even from cold you would have hot water within 20ish mins from when you turn the switch on. I'd allow 30 mins before running a bath.

I have my hot water windows shorter than yours but what I suggest is that you take say 15 mins off every few days until you find the time you are running out of hot water, and go back up by 15 mins IYSWIM.

For example I heat my water for 30 mins before we get up/want to use it so it is warm to wash in. I do not leave the hot water heating whilst we are washing as unless a bath was being run we don't use a full tank. You might with a family, I am not sure. Either way, if you are leaving the house at 08.30 for work and school, why is the water still being heated then IYSWIM?

I think you can get your two hour slots down further but suggest you do it in steps.

Definitely call a gas safe person out to check your boiler. My boiler was costing us gas because it was faulty, but a few parts and a good engineer made all the difference. You will then feel confident to turn the heating off in the day. Do you have an annual boiler service and inspection?

Housework*Fairy

katsu wrote: »

Great start Fairy.

Have you checked the thermostat? On the front of your tank, probably, and needs to be 60C, not higher.

My hot water generally stays hot in the day as the tank is lagged with a jacket. I'd guess even from cold you would have hot water within 20ish mins from when you turn the switch on. I'd allow 30 mins before running a bath.

I have my hot water windows shorter than yours but what I suggest is that you take say 15 mins off every few days until you find the time you are running out of hot water, and go back up by 15 mins IYSWIM.

For example I heat my water for 30 mins before we get up/want to use it so it is warm to wash in. I do not leave the hot water heating whilst we are washing as unless a bath was being run we don't use a full tank. You might with a family, I am not sure. Either way, if you are leaving the house at 08.30 for work and school, why is the water still being heated then IYSWIM?

I think you can get your two hour slots down further but suggest you do it in steps.

Definitely call a gas safe person out to check your boiler. My boiler was costing us gas because it was faulty, but a few parts and a good engineer made all the difference. You will then feel confident to turn the heating off in the day. Do you have an annual boiler service and inspection?

Is the thermostat on the water tank? (not the heating thermostat at the top of my stairs) If so, it's in the loft and I can't get up there.

The boiler was serviced a couple of years ago (and all was fine then) but I don't have any cover or plan in place to get it done annually.

Housework*Fairy

notbritishgas wrote: »

Hi OP
From the figures you posted in post 17 it is apparent you are being charged as if you have an imperial meter.
It is important that you check what type of meter you do have as was posted in post 16.
But to clarify, an imperial would be marked " cu ft" or similar, a metric one marked "m3".
Check and let us know.

Edit, just noticed your other question, I take it you have a normal boiler not a combi, that is one with a hot water storage cylinder. If that is the case then once the water is heated it will remain hot in the cylinder for some time or until you use it all. With us for example our water comes on for an hour in the morning and there is still some left at night, but we are only 2 people with a dishwasher.

Yes - it is an imperial meter. It says cubic feet on it abbreviated.

Re the boiler. It is a Glow Worm Micron 40FF. There's a water tank in the loft.

closed

set the heating thermostat to a proper temp (19-20), set the timer so it's only on when you are in and awake and half an hour before you get up, 24/7 is expensive and wasteful. Stop using the fan heater unless you need to heat one room for a short period instead of the whole house, set the hot water to come on for 30-60 (1 hour a day should get a tank upto 60 degrees easily, 6.5 hours (with no thermostat cutout) would fill a swimming pool) minutes per day before the heating comes on, and adjust if you run out or it's too cold. Close doors, stop draughts, adjust trv's if you have them, turn radiators off in unused rooms, turn all unused appliances off at the wall socket.

Cardew

You are being billed for an Imperial Gas meter - measures in cubic feet, a gas unit being 100 cubic feet and approx 32kWh

Are you sure you don't have a Metric meter- measures in cubic metres and 1 gas unit is approx 11.2kWh.

On the front of the meter it will say - F3 or cu ft - or M3

notbritishgas

Housework*Fairy wrote: »

Yes - it is an imperial meter. It says cubic feet on it abbreviated.

Re the boiler. It is a Glow Worm Micron 40FF. There's a water tank in the loft.

Cardew wrote: »

You are being billed for an Imperial Gas meter - measures in cubic feet, a gas unit being 100 cubic feet and approx 32kWh

Are you sure you don't have a Metric meter- measures in cubic metres and 1 gas unit is approx 11.2kWh.

On the front of the meter it will say - F3 or cu ft - or M3

Here is your answer.

st999

I leave my hot water on all the time, don't have much choice, no timer and the only thermostat I have for the hot water is what temperature it heats up to.

That uses about 18 kWh of gas a day to keep me in constant hot water, although the pilot light uses 4 kWh a day and I also cook by gas.

I never think the kettle analogy is correct because a kettle boils the water then switches off, and if you left the kettle on all the time, the water would boil dry and the kettle would melt.

This does not happen in a hot water tank as there is a thermostat that maintains the temperature of the water at less than 100 deg C so the water in the tank does not boil off.

Nada666

DUTR wrote: »

Don't like the look of the standing charge rubbish, £5.40 per month for leccy and £7.50 for gas?
Have you plugged the consumption figures into a comparison site? As when I put my consumption figures in EDF doesn't feature on the 1st page or two.

With double the national average usage of both gas and electricity the standing charge is hardly an issue. Anywhence, £13 per month is pretty normal and average. What is your issue with this standing charge?

Nada666

If that is your usage and it is not an imperial/metric meter confusion you should look at single fuel options closely rather than just dual fuel options - with that sort of consumption you could well be better off with separate suppliers.

You should also frequently check the market and do not be afraid of being tied in - at that consumption a penalty of £30 may easily be bested by savings of a new tariff (plus cashback from a cashback site rather than comparison site.)

closed

st999 wrote: »

I never think the kettle analogy is correct because a kettle boils the water then switches off, and if you left the kettle on all the time, the water would boil dry and the kettle would melt.

.

if it was sealed it wouldn't, the point of the analogy is to provide a simple example that most people can understand - a kettle heats water, a boiler heats water. A kettle goes cold, a house goes cold.

people don't generally leave anything running if they don't need to use it at the time, cars, taps, ovens, kettles, but they hear a myth down the pub that it's cheaper to heat your house all day every day by heating water, whether they are in/out/asleep/on holiday, and take it as gospel without question, when it's obviously rubbish based on all known commonsense and science a 10 year old should know.